The people don’t want Sabal Trail, nor its compressor station.
Nobody but Spectra’s paid person Andrea Grover spoke for Sabal Trail,
and she only did it by email later, not at the hearing.
Pretty good coverage in three local stories.

“There’s a great deal of frustration here because the
preponderance of evidence shows that this is a bad project,”
[Gordon] Rogers said. “And while we
(the [Flint] Riverkeeper) have colleagues
trying to stop the pipeline, that’s never been our goal. We’re
trying to get it out of the Dougherty County plain. I think FERC can
still do that, even if they approve the project.

Kenneth Cutts, representing Georgia 2nd District Congressman Sanford
Bishop at the meeting, read part of a letter Bishop sent to FERC
addressing “environmental justice” concerns pertaining
to the African-American population in Dougherty County. The letter
was co-signed by Congressmen John Lewis, Hank Johnson and David
Scott.

The statement in FERC’s DEIS that the compressor station would not
be located in an environmental justice community is not correct.

Back to the Albany Herald Story:

Georgia House District 154 Rep. Winfred Dukes said before the
meeting the pipeline project could have a “devastating
impact” on Dougherty County’s agricultural-based economy.

“You’re talking about endangering our water supply,”
Dukes said. “That would devastate our area’s crops, and
agriculture is what drives Southwest Georgia. This project will not
benefit Dougherty County in any way, and there’s no reason for it to
come through Georgia or our county.”

Dukes said he expects the state Legislature to take up the Sabal
Trail issue when it convenes in January.

Steve Caley, the legal director of the Atlanta-based GreenLaw firm,
said FERC erred in ruling in its Draft Impact Statement that the
project did violate clean air standards but did not violate them by
“too much.”

“The National Ambient Air Quality Standards establishes limits
to ensure there is not too much pollution in a given area,”
Caley said. “FERC’s ruling that ‘it’s not a violation if it
doesn’t exceed by too much’ does not have the force of law behind
it. Nowhere in the Clean Air Act does it say that you can exceed
NAAQS standards as long as it’s not by a lot. It simply says you
can’t exceed these standards, which this project would.

“We’re looking at the clean air act standards and comparing what
they proposed to make sure that’s going to comply with those clean
air act standards,” said Eric Cornwell of the EPD. “What we are not
commissioned to do is, we are not in charge of the safety
regulations. That’s really handled by PHMSA, the Pipeline Hazardous
Material Safety Administration.”

The proposed site is near Countryside mobile home park. The owner
doesn’t want it.

“I have a huge concern for my residents and the pollution that can
be put out from these compressor stations and the noise,” said Enon
Winkler, owner of Countryside Mobile home park. “And I’m also
concerned about my investments as well as their investments with the
homes they own and my mobile home park.”

Not just air quality:

“Things that are in the gas pipeline that can pollute the ground
water,” said Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers. “And as you know, and
everybody knows, groundwater in our area is our lifeblood inn terms
of agriculture and the city of Albany and its residents.”

“They are going to result in the violation of the clean air act,”
said Steve Caley of Green Law “And it’s going to be built in an area
that is full of sink holes and sink hole potentials that can cause
an explosion.”

Cornwell said that was beyond the scope of the air quality permit.
But the public heard those concerns.

“They’ve not done their due diligence in finding another way around
all this,” said land owner Robbie Barkley.

Barkley said while he is not happy about the pipeline coming through
his property, he’s also not happy with how Spectra Energy has done
business.

“Sabal trail is coming and has already purchased property for the
compressor station yet they don’t even have approval yet,” said
Barkley. “So I think they’re kind of putting the cart before the
horse.”

You can still tell EPD what you think:

If you were unable to make it to the meeting, written concerns can
be mailed to: Georgia EPD Air Protection Branch, Attn: Eric
Cornwell. 4244 International Parkway, Suite 120. Atlanta, GA 30354.